Celebrity Insider

June 17, 2007

Husky in hospital after leg surgery Country singer Ferlin Husky was resting in a Missouri hospital after surgery on his leg, his spokesman said. Doctors at St. John's Hospital in Springfield, Mo., on Friday inserted a number of stents into the arteries in his left leg to aid his circulation, said Tracy Pitcox, president of Heart of Texas Records, Husky's label. Husky, 81, has been having problems with his legs for the past few months. Tests showed that arteries in both legs were nearly blocked. Surgery is planned on his right leg in the next two weeks. At the height of his career, Husky was a movie and TV star and recorded such hit songs as "Wings of a Dove," "Gone" and "Country Music Is Here to Stay." Parton named lifetime member of Girl Scouts Dolly Parton is a country singer, songwriter, movie star, amusement park owner and philanthropist. Now she's a Girl Scout, too. Parton, 60, was named a lifetime member of Girls Scouts of Tanasi Council during a presentation before 1,000 Girl Scouts at her Dollywood theme park Friday evening in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. "While I was never a Girl Scout myself when I was a kid, I always wanted to be," Parton said in a statement. "This great honor lets me live out a dream and to be part of an organization that stands for many of the same values I do and Dollywood does." Parton accepted a lifetime membership pin and led the audience in the Girl Scout Promise. Then she honored 28 girls who received the Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouts. "Dolly realizes the importance of a program that helps girls grow into young women of courage and confidence," said Glenda McCarter-Johnson, board chairwoman of Girl Scouts of Tanasi Council and Parton's childhood friend. DeGeneres wants Hilton to change ways Ellen DeGeneres hopes Paris Hilton changes her ways when the partying socialite gets out of jail. Hilton is expected to be released on June 25 after serving about 23 days of a 45-day sentence for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case. The hotel heiress told Barbara Walters in a recent jailhouse phone call that she wants to stop acting dumb because "that act is no longer cute." "She's not getting anywhere doing that," DeGeneres said backstage Friday night at the Daytime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. "If that really is an act, if she really was playing dumb, than what does that say about our society that we're celebrating someone who was successful because they're not smart?" DeGeneres said she would be willing to have Hilton as a guest on her daytime talk show and tell her the same thing. Barker makes choice as his successor Bob Barker endorsed his friend Rosie O'Donnell as a possible successor on "The Price Is Right," although the newly retired host isn't sure CBS wants a woman to take over the game show. "I believe they're going to have a meeting with Rosie," Barker said backstage Friday night at the Daytime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, where he won his 19th trophy. "She knows the show," he said. "There's no doubt in my mind she could do the show. Now, whether they want a lady host, I don't know. I've never heard that discussed. As far as I know, they've only auditioned men." Barker said his friendship with O'Donnell goes back several years, when she had him as a guest on her old daytime talk show. "She told me she loved 'The Price Is Right' and wanted to host it one day," he recalled.